GEMS sees healthy growth in 1999

GE Medical Systems garnered praise when GE announced its fiscal 1999 financial results. The Fairfield, CT, conglomerate said that acceptance of its Six Sigma-designed products caused its medical business to grow by 25% for the year. Six Sigma is GE’s quality improvement program, which is being applied company-wide.

Many of GE’s 1999 accomplishments culminated at last December’s RSNA conference. There it completed its acquisition of OEC Medical Systems and introduced a new high-field open MRI system, GE Sigma OpenSpeed. Following the meeting, GE won a recommendation from a Food and Drug Administration panel for clearance of its digital mammography unit, Senographe 2000D (SCAN 1/12/00, 11/24/99, and 9/18/99).

For the year, GE reported revenues of $112 billion, up 11% compared with $100 billion in 1998. The company posted earnings of $10.7 billion, up 15% from 1998’s $9.3 billion. GE did not break out sales and earnings figures for GE Medical Systems, other than to report on the business’s overall growth.